Author's Note: So if the paragraphs are a little screwed up, it's because every time I moved my work from my google doc's to Word, it would screw all the paragraphing up and I would have to manually go in and fix it. I'm using a flashdrive from now on because this is absolutely ridiculous and annoying.

I know we are all waiting for the tenth chapter in What They Don't Know, and I've got literally 90% written but I'M STUCK BECAUSE I CAN'T THINK OF SOMETHING TO USE IN THE STORY AND I CAN'T TELL YOU WHAT OR ASK FOR HELP BECAUSE IT'LL GIVE EVERYTHING AWAY. Anyway, so here's this while everyone is so patiently waiting. Enjoy this incredibly long chapter three. Expect longer chapters which unfortunately results in longer waits. Review this junk for me though! Even if it's just to say. You're a fucking terrible corny writer and you need to stop. I'll take it, I can hold criticism.

I like this chapter though.

If there was some physical way to show how unbelievably livid Hermione felt, she might have possibly melted so far down into the earth, they wouldn't have been able to retrieve her. She sat across from Tom, who had been staring blankly at Hermione for the past five minutes. He had yet to say a word to her, but just the thought or knowledge of him looking at her this long made her want to yank his eyeballs out and choke him with them. She refused to meet his gaze, she didn't think she'd had ever been this angry in her entire life, not even when her best friend Nancy had accidentally killed her hamster.

"Do I have something on my nose?" Her whisper came out loud through her clenched

teeth, her knuckles straining white to keep her hands from killing the boy in front of her.

"If you did, I wouldn't tell you. You're cute when you're irritated, it's entertaining to watch you work yourself over." That stupid smile plastered his face, his stupid handsome face.

"God forbid you ever find me as a partner in Biochemistry Tom, I won't have any hesitations about 'accidentally' spilling acid onto your face." She huffed, turning away from him again, she couldn't stand to look at him. "I'll never tell you anything now you know, I can't believe you did this."

"You didn't exactly push me away though," He leaned
back against the chair, grabbing a wooden puzzle from the table next to him. "You enjoyed every second of it."

"You kiss like a sick rabies infected dog." She spat, something in the back of her head whispered that she was lying. "It's no wonder why you don't have a girlfriend Tom."

"Oh Hermione, there's no point in lying. Listen, I'll make you a deal. You tell me you
liked it and tell me everything about yourself, and I'll stop everything. I'll be done, right here and right now, tell me and mum's the word." A mischievous look came about his face as he spoke.

"You're so full of it, why should I believe anything you say?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why wouldn't you? I haven't exactly lied to you about anything, now have I?" His face
became serious. He was actually being serious, he's not joking. I still don't believe him.

"At this moment in time Riddle, I'd rather stick my tongue into a blender." She looked him straight in the face, doing her best to give him the most callous glare she could muster.

"I can think of a few better places for your tongue." His smile returned and he added a wink for good measure.

"Why…I never-"

"Both of you, in my office, now!" McGonagall's door swished open, startling Hermione.

Tom however just continued to stare at Hermione, a small smile lingering on his lips. Hermione made her way back to her classes, her face still tinged with a nasty mixture of embarrassment and anger. Her parents had been shocked, to say the least. They had never known Hermione to be the type of get caught snogging a boy in the hallway, much less snogging the child of one of Europe's most prestigious politicians. Even more mortifying was the fact that McGonagall had made them both sit there through each other's phone calls. While Tom had kept a face of serene
disappointment and embarrassment on his face the whole time, Hermione was so utterly humiliated at Tom hearing her parents scold her for something that hadn't actually happened, that she almost felt the urge to scream and cry.

"Hermione, you've really upset your father. He really thought differently of you, you

know? You've never done anything like this before, you've-"

"Hermione, this is outrageous. It's only been two weeks, and we've never had a phone call from school before, what do you have to say?" Her father interrupted her mother, his voice a mixture of disbelief and annoyance.

"I'm sorry…I don't know what to say." Hermione's voice was small and weak, she'd never been so ashamed of doing nothing wrong in her entire life.

Tom's phone call had been very different. A part of Hermione suspected that Tom would

probably receive a letter from his father in the future, telling him how proud he was of his son for being such a playboy.

"Tom, you should know better." His father's voice sounded distant, unconcerned.

"Yes father, I'm sorry." Hermione felt the thick lie poisoning her veins, it burned her insides. She could kill him, she really could.

"If I receive another phone call from the school about your behavior or any

incidents like this, there will be punishment, do you understand?" He probably means punishment as in, he'll give Tom nine hundred dollars rather than his weekly allowance of a thousand.

"Yes Sir, I understand." Tom spoke with his face down, speaking into his knees. Hermione noticed how easy it would for her to slam his head into the desk in front of them. So
easy…all I have to do is just one hand on the back of his head…and bam. That's all I have to do…

"I hope you two feel disappointed in yourselves for acting so puerilely. You two will of
course have detention after dinner for a week. The school's groundskeeper needs help in pulling weeds from the gardens. I'm sure you two will be capable of helping her?" McGonagall's question was of course rhetorical, she didn't care whether they were or not.

"Yes Ma'am." They replied in unison, Hermione still found herself speaking through her teeth.

"I wonder how the school will feel about our little predicament." Tom wondered aloud, as they neared their class.

"You wouldn't dare." Hermione dug her nails so deep into her palms, she was shocked they weren't dripping blood.

"You underestimate me. Like I said, I always get what I want." He grabbed the door, opening it and swishing his hand dramatically, allowing her to enter first.

The class paused, staring at Hermione as she walked in, handing her tardy excuse to Professor Moody. Hermione was sure that if his glass eye could, it would have matched his other eye in an equal glare. Then the class exploded with whispers, Tom had walked in behind her, handing his note to the professor. Professor Moody's eyebrows rose, a very dark look coming over his face as he read their notes. He said nothing as Hermione, whose face was now burning red as she made her way to her seat. She was sure she knew what this looked like. Tom had a small smile on his face, giving the class exactly what they wanted. He was

simply telling everyone without saying a word exactly what happened.

Moody glared them down for a second longer before continuing his lesson, turning to face the board continuing the equation he had been writing. Hermione could keep eyes boring into her skull from behind her, but she chose to pay them no attention. She felt a nudge under her hand and looked over, Ron had shoved a small piece of paper under her fist and was pointedly looking at it then at her. A part of her felt the need to ignore it but she couldn't find it in herself to ignore Ron in such an unjustified manner.

-Where were you? What happened and why in the bloody hell did Riddle look so smug?

-She caught me telling Tom off in the stairwell and assumed something else was happening.

-You weren't actually doing anything…were you?

-NO!
-We were just talking and she didn't believe us.

-He looks like he just finished getting off with you, the whole class is going to think something else.

-I know. Thank you.

Hermione didn't quite feel like writing anything else after that, she knew that if she just waited the day out, nothing else could possibly happen. Tom surely wouldn't want people thinking he had been caught with some poor scholarship girl in the stairwell.

"Riddle! Passing notes! Looking for a double whammy today,
are we?" Moody growled, his artificial leg squeaked as he made his way between the desks to Tom and Malfoy's desk.

Tom made no move, his face reddened slightly and laid his head down in mock embarrassment.

"What's it say then?" Moody demanded, picking the note up. His face twisted when he

read it, laying it back down on Tom's desk. "Read it then, aloud for everyone."

Hermione didn't have to be a completely nitwit to know exactly what the note was going to say and what his intentions were. A part of her was simply begging, no pleading, for the note to say exactly what hers had said. Surely this boy, this stupid insignificant insipid teenage boy, is not doing what I think he is. He is simply helping Malfoy with his homework, nobody is this evil. Nobody.

Tom's voice shook as he spoke and Hermione felt nausea wash up into her throat, blood draining from her face as he began to read. Hermione imagined that if the student's here paid half as much attention to their professors as they were to Tom at this very moment, the entire student body would have a perfect 4.0 GPA.

"What happened there? ;

I received detention from Professor McGonagall." At this moment, Hermione heard a few choice students gasp. Oh my god, they're actually shocked. They're shocked that this boy actually received detention.

- "With the new girl? ;

- McGonagall caught us in the stairwell;

- Doing what? ;

- What do you think?"

At this point, all hell broke loose. Students began whispering and heads turned so fast, Hermione half expected them to fly off their necks. Her face felt like it was filling with molten lava, she couldn't breathe. Tom had paused, his face turning a light shade of red. How in the hell is he able to do that? How the bloody hell can he just fake emotions like that?! Her body seemed to be frozen in some absolute horror as she fully took into comprehension what was going on around her.

"That's enough…That's enough! Everyone quiet!" The entire room silenced but Hermione still saw student's turning back and forth. "Sit down Riddle…that's quite enough. Give me that. Pass notes again and I'll have McGonagall read them over the loud-speaker."

Hermione felt an icy heat surging through her veins. She was facing her desk, refusing to look at anything or listen to another word that her professor had to say. He wasn't joking, he was literally going to torture her and torment her until she gave him what she wanted. No, I will not give up this easy. I'm mature and I can handle this, I know the truth and my friends will believe me and I'm not going to let him ruin anything for me.

Hermione spent the rest of class listening to her classmates whispering behind her. Tom never snogs anyone, I can't believe he made out with her. She's only been here for two weeks, how'd she get to him so quick. I can't believe she's pulled Tom into trouble like that, he's so

nice and sweet. Hermione temper was at his breaking point by the time she left class, Ron and Harry chasing after her as she reached into the hall.

"I thought you said nothing happened!" Ron demanded, his face looked almost angry.

"I wasn't lying! Nothing happened! You were right about him, he's evil! He's making this all up and…I'm telling the truth, why are you looking at me like that?!" Harry and Ron were both giving her an odd expression.

"Nothing happened, I swear. He lured me down into the stairwell and when McGonagall came across us she figured we had been doing something."

"Why would he lie about that?" Harry gave her an inquiring look.

"I don't know Harry, to ruin my life I suppose. I haven't done anything to him. I guess he just doesn't like knowing there's a girl out there with less money than him who's just as smart and talented." Hermione snapped.

"Well, whatever you've done, you need to fix it or he'll have your head on a spike by the end of the week." Harry said, his face full of a small kind of pity.

Hermione looked over passed her shoulder and saw Tom talking to some of his fellow friends, he looked up, as though he felt her watching him. They stared at each other blankly before Tom's lips finally cracked into a small roguish smile and he winked. Hermione suddenly felt the urge to faint.

_)_(_

Hermione had been in detention with Tom for three days now, and a part of her thought that if she had to be near him any longer, her brain would simply implode on itself from pure annoyance. It had only been one day and the entire school seemed to suddenly know what had happened between the two of them in the stairwell. Hermione was completely amazed at the attention she had begun receiving. Tom's friends especially had taken the news to heart, almost ninety percent of them believing Hermione was some evil seductress. Tom seemed to be at no fault, as far as the rumor had gone (or as Tom had told the story), Tom had been going down to his dorm to find a missing text book and Hermione had chased him down. She simply grabbed him and kissed him, unable to keep her hands off of him. Hermione had nearly blew chunks when Ginny had informed her of the story.

It seemed that the only people who truly believed Hermione hadn't grabbed Tom and kissed him off the stairwell were Ron, Harry, Ginny, and a few other choice people. Hermione had a sense that the only reason they believed her was because it probably put their theory to rest that there actually was something off about Tom.

Detentions were Hermione's personal hell, being that these were the first detentions she had ever received. Hermione had never been one to break the rules, ever. So it was merely the fact that she found herself trapped in the very far-side of the school grounds with Tom and some old groundskeeper who seemed to have the vision and hearing of a dying dog that drove her crazy. Due to the fact that the groundskeeper usually stayed at least forty feet from them (she seemed to think students were all diseased and disgusting…or at least she did from the way she treated them) Tom was able to bother Hermione relentlessly throughout the entire two hours they spent yanking weeds from the ground.

"I'm beginning to really enjoy our quality time together, Hermione. I must admit, it's rather pleasing." Tom had just returned from taking a wheelbarrow of weeds to the dumpster.

"Quit talking to me." Hermione had lost count of how many times she had simply told him to shut it, bugger off, belt up, or simply shut the hell up. Ignoring him did no use because then he would simply start pestering her with annoying useless facts, asking her questions and assuming when she didn't answer, and just teasing her obstinately.

"You can't possibly still be mad at me for that whole kiss thing, now can you? I mean it was your fault. I gave you fair warning and you ignored it, you obviously wanted me to do it." He moved unnaturally close to Hermione who was doing her best to ignore his presence.

"Riddle, I swear to god. If you come any closer to me, I will shove this damn bloody shovel up your goddamn arse." Hermione growled, her body holding itself back from keeping to her words.

"So feisty, I love that in a woman."

"Have you ever actually been with a woman Tom?" Hermione finally looked up at him, she wanted to catch him off guard. That seemed to be physically impossible.

"Have you ever been with a man?" He asked, his perfectly arched eyebrow raising.

"Wouldn't you like to know? I wouldn't be surprised if you'd never been with a woman, it would certainly explain a lot." She said haughtily.

"Well, from the way you kiss Hermione, I could make the same assumption."

"Excuse me?" Hermione looked up at him. My kissing is NOT that bad.

"I don't think you've ever actually been kissed." He looked over to see what the groundskeeper was doing and turned back to Hermione. "I think Tuesday was the closest you've ever been to a boy."

"Oh and you've kissed so many women then have you?" Hermione had no intentions of telling him he was correct, he in fact was the first boy she had ever kissed.

Growing up, Hermione hadn't exactly been very pretty nor popular. Although her last few years of High school had given her a slightly more attractive appearance, she still wasn't the most appealing girl out there. Her hair had definitely calmed down. The curls that once sprayed out from her head in every direction were now tamed (thanks mostly to hair products). She was still slightly lanky, but her body had for the most part grown into itself. Her chest was nothing impressive, something that when she was teased by boys they always seemed to mention.

"Enough to know that I can tell when someone has no experience."

"You don't know anything about me, remember?" Hermione had no interest in having a conversation about her love life with someone who was out to completely ruin her life in general. "How could you assume to know the number of boys I've kissed if you can't even tell me my middle name?"

"How's about we guess then? I'll tell you what, you give me three guesses for your middle name and if I'm wrong, I'll fix some of the damage I've done. If I get it right then you let me show you how a real kiss is done." A frisky smile played on his face.

"Why on earth would I agree to that?" She felt a blush creeping into her face. "Those are absolutely terrible conditions."

"But you see Hermione, you don't exactly have a choice, now do you? I can continue to make your life a living hell you know? Nobody can see us out here except for old Merryweather and she's certainly paying no attention. Who knows what we could be doing out here." His voice took a false innocence.

"You know, in some places, this could be considered a form of blackmail or harassment." She forcefully pulled a weed from the bed, spraying the air with dirt and fertilizer.

"If you're not careful, I'll have to tell Merryweather you're destroying her garden. She won't be too happy about that." He was carefully pulling the weeds out, patting down the dirt after he finished.

"Am I allowed to negotiate the terms of the agreement?"

"Why? Are you wanting more than one kiss?" He winked at her.

"No, God no," Hermione retorted, her voice took on a shrill edge to it. "I want you to tell everyone what really happened. I want the school to know what their little perfect head boy is actually like."

"Hmm…" He put a gloved finger on his face, mimicking deep thought. "No. I don't negotiate, sorry. You can either agree to the terms or suffer the consequences."

"That's unfair Tom, you're not playing fair!" Hermione was trying to weigh the choices in her mind. If she said no, he was obviously just going to make things worse and continue to let the school hate her and believe she was some simple whore who seduced the school's sweetheart. There of course was the chance, the very high chance, that he would lose and have to fix it for her (but he did say partially) and the very slim chance (which Hermione was giving him a 15% chance) that he would guess her middle name.

"Take it or leave it, of course. I would chose the first of the latter." He shrugged. "The school is probably already talking up a storm knowing how we are together…almost completely alone. Imagine what they're thinking…" He trailed off.

"Fine! Fine! God, fine! You're a nutter! A complete nutter!" She exclaimed, her stomach was filling with a sense of dread. There is absolutely no way he can possibly know my middle name.

"Alright, let me look for a second." He dramatically began to closely examine her, looking at her hair and clothes. He came within an inch of her face, looking into her eyes. Hermione froze, she could smell his cologne, and it was a musky scent she couldn't place. Almost like pine trees and a smoldering fire.

He reached and picked up her arm, pretending to examine the limb. Hermione ripped her hand out of his grasp, glaring at him. A small smile reached the corner of his lips as he continued to walk around Hermione where she was kneeling. She sat up slightly, crossing her arms and leaning back on her feet, an exasperated look on her face as she patiently waited for him to finish.

"Is it…Elaine?" The look that had come upon his face had Hermione feeling incredibly nervous. He already knows…he's just toying with me.

"No." She replied, her stomach was twisting and churning, a part of her felt slightly sick.

Tom came around behind her, she sat still, her limbs acting as if they were for some reason full of lead. Her cardigan suddenly felt very itchy against her throat and her skin began to prickle. She turned to look at him, narrowing her eyes in distrust. He reached to pick up a lock of her hair and Hermione slid her hand out and slapped it away. Her gaze on him grew colder, an incredibly knowing smile on his face.

"Hmm...okay. How's about…Ginger?" His smile was growing, Hermione felt the acidic feel of bile rising slowly in the back of her throat. Why the hell did I agree to this, he already knew. I'm so stupid, he's head boy. He already fucking knew. He read it somewhere and he's known this entire time.

"No." She said, why am I whispering?

Tom took his time guessing the last one, he moved in until his face was almost pressed to hers, as if he was getting ready to tell her a secret, his body merely inches away from hers. She sat still, waiting for him to say it. The anticipation rising in her throat, her lungs holding any air that wished to escape from her body.

"Is it Jean?" His voice was hot and low in her ear, his breath blew softly against her lobe. She shivered slightly and felt a large wave of anxiety splash over her.

"You already knew, that's not fair." She sat still as he leaned back, a smooth satisfied smile resting on his lips.

"You should've thought of that before you agreed." He replied simply. "What time shall we arrange our lesson then?"

"A lesson, is that what we're going to call it? I was thinking more along the lines of unwanted sexual harassment." She spat back.

"You can call it what you like, we both know how much you're really looking forward to it." Hermione didn't get a chance to respond, Mrs. Merryweather had returned from ignoring them to come examine their work.

It was an hour later they found themselves walking back up to the school, the sun slowly making it's way to the edge of the grass facing them. Hermione's hand were covered in blisters and her clothes smudged with dirt. Tom, for some unknown reason, looked as he had when he had come out. His clothes had hardly any dirt or grass on them and his hands looked pristine. This seemed to press Hermione's aggravation even further with him.

"I'll meet you at 12:00 then, in the common room. The professors make rounds at 11:30 and 1:00 so that will give me an hour to do what I need. I don't accept lateness." He turned, his voice taking on the tone of a stern professor.

"You don't think Ginny will find it mysterious if I just up and leave the room for an hour at midnight? That doesn't seem at all suspicious to you?"

"That's not my problem now is it?" He winked at her, walking off towards his dorm room, opposite the entrance to the girls.

She watched him walk off before trudging up to the girl's dormitory to retrieve her lavatory bag. Ginny was already in the room in bed, watching a movie on her laptop under her covers.

"Oh hey, I didn't expect you to be- God! What did she have you two doing? Rolling around in the dirt?" She looked repulsed when she finally looked up to see her appearance.

"Would you be at all surprised to know Tom looks as though he fell from heaven when we finished?" Hermione removed her dirty shoes, setting them on a mat next to the door. "I have no idea how he managed to stay so bloody clean."

"Hermione, I don't mean to be rude, but you smell like a cow's arse." Hermione couldn't take it, she burst out laughing. "You're going to take a shower right?"

"Actually, I was going to ask if you minded sharing a bunk tonight." Hermione inched closer to Ginny who edged quickly away.

"I know you don't want to hear it, but you should at least hear it from me rather than anyone else. Everyone's been talking about you and Riddle being alone for detention you know." Ginny looked like she was preparing for a bomb to go off.

Hermione sighed and just hung her head. If Hermione Granger was anyone else, she might have called her parents and begged them to send her off to a different school. She would have sat in her room sulking, crying, or even getting into the faces of the people who were saying these things and going off on them, but she wasn't. She is Hermione Granger so she simply took it with a grain of salt and did her best to ignore the fact that the entire school seemed to be closing in on her for something that had never happened.

"I know. There's nothing I can do about it. Everyone here hates me, loves Tom. It doesn't matter that he kissed me, I'm the bad guy. How is anyone that stupid anyway? If Tom is so smart and such a great guy, how did I manage to seduce someone like him anyway? That makes no sense." She made her way to the door. "Anyway, I'll be back. Don't wait up."

Hermione was thankful nobody was in the showers when she reached them. Most students showered very early in the morning before classes or immediately after dinner. Hermione had found that waiting for a shower was one of worst experiences of the latter that she was facing since the entire ordeal. Girl's would cut in front of her, stealing the shower she was waiting for, or steal items out of her bag. She had quickly learned to keep her bag directly in front of her in the shower after her body wash went missing three times. By the time Hermione was able to shower, the other girl's had taken a majority of the hot water and she was left with their lukewarm leftovers.

She relished in the hot water, washing away all the soil and dirt from her hands and scrubbing softly at the burning blisters on her palms. She couldn't believe she had been dumb enough to take a bet with Tom. She knew it hadn't honestly mattered, Tom didn't quite seem like the type to keep his word unless it involved making her look worse than she already did. Tom did nothing to staunch the rumors that the student body had begun to spread about her. He simply let the school think that she had slept with half of the boys at her former school. He simply stood and listened as Pansy Parkinson informed her entire Advanced Calculus class that Hermione had actually been kicked out of her old school for having been caught in a cleaning cupboard with another boy.

She would have loved to inform the entire school that it was Tom who had kissed her, and it was Tom that relentlessly teased and flirted with her, no matter how much she ignored him. She wished the entire school had been there to watch Tom trick her into a bet that allowed him the right to kiss her again. She looked at the clock that hung in the bathroom, she still had a solid two hours before she had to meet Tom in an empty common room.

By the time she had returned to her dormitory, Ginny had passed out. Her laptop laying on the floor next to her and drool accumulating on her pillow. She walked over to her dresser and paused momentarily, what do I wear to go sneak off and snog a boy in the common room? This was a dilemma she had never actually faced before. She could just wear her regular pajamas, a simple pair of sweatpants and raggedy shirt but she couldn't imagine the amount of teasing she would receive for dressing poor in front of Tom. She couldn't even think of why she cared what she was going to wear, she didn't even care what he thought.

Hermione finally decided a part of her cared (simply because she didn't wish to be on the teasing end of this situation) and chose a tee-shirt her mother had bought her a few years back that now fit her rather tightly. She opted for a pair of sweatpants either way because they at least looked slightly new and presentable. She sat at her desk, attempting to do some homework while she waited but eventually decided against it after she read the same paragraph at least ten times over a period of thirty minutes, taking in none of it.

It was now eleven thirty and whoever was in charge of checking the student's dorm for sneaking students would be making their rounds. She felt fidgety and a part of began to feel such an anxiety that she couldn't sit still. She was sitting in pure darkness, she had turned the lamp off after she'd given up on her homework in hopes of making sure Ginny stayed asleep. Her stomach felt like it was trying to eat itself from within, her palms becoming slightly sweaty. The clock above their dorm door clicked softly, Hermione began counting them to the minute. The minute hand finally reached 11:55 and Hermione stood up, her legs wobbling under the unease her body was experiencing.

She was quiet as a mouse opening the door and she took her time walking down to the common room. She reached the corner before the room and took an incredibly large breath before stepping around the corner to a very empty common room. She huffed, annoyed that he was late. She knew he was late because she was late.

"Waiting for someone?" A voice behind her against the wall caused her to jump and stumble back, bumping into the couch.

"Tom! Bloody hell! What if I had screamed!?" She asked, smacking him the shoulder.

"Then we would have been caught and you would've been in an even bigger predicament than we are now, wouldn't you?" He said, looking at her as if she were stupid.

She glared at him before taking in his appearance. He wore a plain white tee shirt and a very soft looking pair of men's pajama bottoms. He wore a pair of black socks on his feet and he still looked as though he had just left a men's modeling add.

"Can we get this over with? I have class in the morning and I don't want to get caught." She crossed her arms and stared at him expectantly, but her body argued with her. Her heart was starting to beat a little faster and her stomach felt as though it were a hot twisted piece of rubber pipe.

"So eager, aren't we?" He smiled. "Come with me then, sit." He pointed at the couch Hermione had backed into a second ago.

"Good, now close your eyes-"

"Tom, this is stupid, just kiss-"

"I said, close your eyes." His voice was commanding, and Hermione sighed with annoyance and shut her eyes pursing her lips. "Relax….Hermione relax. I'm not going to smack you. You won't enjoy this if you're as stiff as a board."

"I'm not going to enjoy this either way-"

"Now," He interrupted her again. "Relax. That's slightly better. Now tilt your head…no not like that, like this."

She froze when she felt his hands touch her bare skin, one hand placed onto her shoulder and the other on her chin and cheek forcing her head to tilt to very small angle. He didn't say anything else and she felt much too nervous to open her eyes. She jumped slightly when she felt his fingers smooth over her lips, her body shivering slightly as his touch. She wasn't sure how, but she felt his body move closer without seeing it. She could feel the warmth of his chest as he reached towards her. He used what felt like his thumb to slightly part her lips and then she could taste his breath from how close he was. It was a sweet mint and it caused her tongue to tingle. She felt his hand come onto her face and then it happened. His lips pressed against hers, so lightly that it was almost like it didn't happen. He softly did it again and her body relaxed so incredibly so that she was surprised it didn't just fall limp. The grip of his hand tightened suddenly and his hand reached around and pulled her head closer, kissing Hermione more fiercely.

At first, she sat still. Unable to think of feel exactly what was happening, her head twisting to move around the fact that she was sitting in the middle of the common room making out with the boy who had ruined her life in no less than a week's time span. Finally, her mind went blank and her body began to react. She had no experience kissing what so ever but her body seemed to know what to do out of pure instinct. Her lips moved deftly with his to meet his kiss and her lips parted to allow his tongue to sweep across and her hands moved free of their own will to suddenly grip Tom and pull him as close as his body would allow. Tom's hand's suddenly moved and gripped Hermione around her waist, allowing Hermione's hands to interlock into his hair. His body fell back, pulling her with him so that she was laying on top of him, straddling him slightly. One hand fell to his chest to hold herself and the other still gripping his hair firmly. If Hermione hadn't known any better, she would have thought she had been doing this her entire life.

His hands gripped her around her waist, his fingers digging into her hips as he worked to kiss her harder. His mouth moving to taste Hermione like her lips were his only source of oxygen. Hermione's train of thought was in turmoil, her brain firing colors and words that she couldn't exactly comprehend. Her chest pressed so closely to Tom's, she couldn't quite tell one thudding heartbeat from another. His touch and kiss were thick and he worked to press Hermione's body into his even harder, his hips rolling heavily against her body. Hermione couldn't have told anyone how long this went on, their hands and body's twisting and grabbing and searching to fill any empty space and their lips moving so steadily against one another's that it was as if their bodies were in complete synch with each other.

It wasn't until a chime tolled, signaling twelve thirty had arrived that Hermione finally pulled away, her body gasping for breath. Her chest heaving and her skin burning to recover the loss of contact that she had created. Tom looked incredibly dazed, looking around, blinking swiftly. Hermione's head cleared and she very quickly pulled herself off Tom, standing up and her face burning heavily from embarrassment. Oh God, what have I done? What the hell just happened?

"That was definitely an improvement." Tom said, still blinking as though to clear his head. "Of course, we'll have more time to work on it-"

"Absolutely not!" She said turning to him in shock. "The bet was only for one time and that was it! Why on earth would I subject myself to that again?"

"Well, because I said so." He said simply.

"You expect me to do whatever you say?" She said, her lips felt swollen and she unconsciously found herself touching them with her fingers.

"Listen," He sat up and his face became very serious. "We can either do this the easy way, where you listen and do as I tell you. Things will be much easier for you if you just do what I want when I want it." He stood up and his face seemed to flash with a sudden darkness. "I get what I want Hermione, and you've piqued my interest. I know powerful people and I'm capable of very powerful things. I enjoy our little talks and I plan to enjoy more of our meetings like this. Of course, there is always the hard way. You can walk away and I can continue to make your life here at this school a living hell. Surely, you wish to put this entire thing with the school behind you. You can lie to me all you want and tell me you didn't enjoy what just happened and tell me that you hate our little talks and arguments, but your only lying to yourself."

Hermione clenched her teeth and a very hot surge of anger rushed through her. She stared back at him hard, but her body seemed to wind down in fear. He was just a boy, what kind of power could he even have access too. He's wrong, I hate him and I hate his stupid soft mouth and his stupid perfect face and his stupid perfect body…Hermione felt such a livid spout of hatred fused with such a powerful bout of passion her body seemed to be confused on whether she should punch him in the face, or kiss him until her lips bleed.

"You're not leaving me much of a choice are you?" She asked, her voice low with anger.

"There is no real choice in this." The darkness she had seen a second ago vanished, and he shrugged noncommittally.

"What are the terms of this new agreement then?" She asked, turning away from him, examining some items on the shelf nearby.

"We will meet, like this. More than once a week, and a few other things that I have in mind…the usual." He said, coming behind her. "You'll learn to love me eventually. Like I said, I always get what I want Hermione. Does it really bother you so much that I want you?"

"Are you so used to getting what you want that you have to result to blackmail, harassment, and dirty tricks to get a girl to pretend to like you Tom?" She asked, turning around and jumping slightly at how close she found herself to him.

"Are you so used to not having any attention, that it takes me tricking you into kissing me to make you realize you actually like too?" A smile began to creep its way to his face.

"I wish people could see what a truly evil little douche you truly are, Tom Riddle. It honestly boggles my mind the way you trick people into thinking you're a sweet, innocent, little boy."

"You didn't think I was so evil a second ago on the couch." He smirked.

"I was just doing what you asked me to do." Her face grew hot.

"I never asked you to straddle me and run your hands all over my body." He said, his crooked teeth showing.

She sighed angrily and eyed the clock, they only had a few minutes before someone made a round back into the common room to make sure there was nobody there. She could either live in miserable hatred from the entire school for the next two years and live under the constant irritation of Tom poking and prodding her for a reaction, or she could just agree to his terms and make things possibly considerably a hundred times worse and agree to be aggravated by Tom willingly. Some deep part of her was churning over the fact that her body had reacted so profoundly to his touch and kiss and the way he looked at her. Nothing would change the fact that just the sight and thought of Tom Riddle seemed to annoy her deeply to her core.

"If I say yes, will you let me go to bed?" She peeked towards the clock again.

"We'll be out here all night otherwise." He said warily.

"Fine."

She had absolutely no idea what she was getting herself into.